Escape to Ikebukuro
by OnLy In DrEaMs NoW
Summary: Near Ikebukuro, a castle has been constructed to rule over the city and rid the city of it's dark side. The 22 year old princess who lives there, Karima Kyouko, wants nothing more than to escape the life of royalty and start a new life full of excitement. Could Shinjuku's infamous informant be just what she's been waiting for, for both a partner in crime and a lover?T for language
1. Fire and Ice

The young princess sighed from her lavishly furnished bedroom, staring out the biggest window leading to one of the small towns which her family ruled over. "Why me?" she muttered forlornly, closing her eyes and falling backwards onto her bed. Had her mother, the queen, seen her action, the girl would be scolded for 'acting like a commoner.' But truth be told, she desperately wished that she wasn't royalty-she wanted the thrill of messing around in a city and to feel like she was invincible… A knock on her door shook her from her thoughts. "My dear?" a feminine voice called to her, and she moaned quietly in frustration. "Mom…"she muttered to herself, frowning suddenly as she realized that she had to fake that _ridiculous _British accent again, just so she wouldn't 'tarnish the family name.' "What is it?" she responded, trying to hide the annoyance in her voice. "Darling, dinner is almost ready; please try on the dress that the royal tailor prepared for you." She replied, and the girl on the bed sat up slowly. "Damn…"she mumbled, unconsciously reaching over to her bed stand and letting her fingers brush over the lid of her iron chocolate box. However, the box wasn't _completely _filled with sweets…

At the very bottom of the box was a knife. A switchblade, to be precise.

She removed the lid and reached inside, her fingers curling around the handle of the blade. "I'll bring it, just in case," she muttered, the false accent completely gone. She stood and peeled her clothes off, slipping into the dress and tying her sash around her waist. "Time for yet _another _uneventful dinner party," she sighed, sliding the blade into her sash's hidden pocket and heading for the door.

"Darling, I'd like you to meet Izaya Orihara," her father said, gesturing to the man beside him. She glanced over at him uncertainly, keeping her arms behind her back respectfully. The man in question was wearing a black jacket with white fur trimming, with a black v-neck shirt underneath. He wore black jeans with a matching belt, and wore a ring on one hand. He had pale skin and short, black hair that spiked down instead of up. His dark red eyes gazed into hers, and she had to hide her blush. "Hey," he said to her, smirking as she remained quiet. "Izaya is from a large city some distance away," her father continued. She turned to the man. "Are you really?" she asked him carefully, hiding the interest in her voice. He nodded. "I live in a city called Shinjuku," he said, not noticing how his voice sent chills up the girl's spine. "However, there's a city nearby called Ikebukuro that's much more interesting." He finished, sliding his hands inside his jacket pockets. She nodded slowly. "If I could, I'd like to visit Ikebukuro one day," she muttered, peering over at her father pointedly. He scowled, but said, "Perhaps I will take you to see this Ikebukuro someday soon…" She smiled and looked back to Izaya. "Perhaps I'll see you there..?" she said quietly, raising an eyebrow. He smiled. "It's very possible…I'm there quite often," he said, chuckling. Her father intervened, sensing an unhealthy bond forming between his daughter and the commoner. "We should take our seats at the dining table," he said carefully, aware of the smirk that crept across the commoner's face. "I'll see you later, dearest princess," Izaya said sarcastically, and the king saw his daughter begin to blush, which angered him greatly. He ushered his daughter to the table and sat down beside his wife. "I saw what happened," the woman said to him. "We shall post guards outside her door tonight." He nodded grimly. "She doesn't understand that it is unbecoming of her to be so friendly with commoners," he muttered, peering over at his daughter, who was gazing at Izaya in awe. "But she will understand soon, and she will be thankful to us when she does."

Later that night, the princess was leaving the dining room when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Izaya smiling at her. "Princess, I never got your name~" he cooed, and she nearly face palmed when she realized that he was right. "I'm sorry, my name is Karima," she said, smiling at him. He smirked. "Do you have a cell phone?" he asked her, reaching into his pocket for his own (one of them, anyway.) She shook her head. "My parents are really old-fashioned," she said ruefully, and he shrugged. "Want one?" he asked simply, and she blinked. "Yeah…"she muttered, blushing. He didn't respond, instead pulling a small black cell phone from his pocket. "Here," he said, handing it to the stunned girl. "That was my backup phone, but I can just get another." He chuckled at her expression, a cross between shock and confusion, and turned to leave, but not before slipping her a small, folded piece of paper. "If you want a secret tour of Ikebukuro, just let me know," he said, turning the corner and disappearing into the darkness. She finally snapped out of her daze and looked down at her open hand, which was holding both the cell phone and the paper. She smiled. "What a nice guy…" she muttered to herself, no longer speaking with the accent, before heading up to her room.


	2. She's had enough

Once the girl had reached her floor of the castle, she sighed heavily. Her parents had stationed guards almost every 10 feet down the hallway. She trudged slowly down the hall, nodding to the guards as she passed them so she wouldn't cause suspicion. 'My parents are _so _paranoid,' she thought in irritation, finally reaching her door at the end of the hall. She opened it and closed it behind her quickly, losing her composure and sprinting to her bed, where she promptly threw herself onto it with a sigh of contempt. She reached into her sash and removed the switchblade, putting it back into her chocolate box and replacing the lid. Suddenly she remembered Izaya's gift, and she reached into the other side of her sash, removing the cell phone and the folded paper. She had hid them in her sash as she emerged onto her floor, when she'd seen all of the security her parents had posted. She unfolded the paper with eager eyes, and blushed at what she saw.

**Izaya- 387-2498**

**Text me, Kari-Chan! ~ :D**

**"**Izaya," she whispered, smiling a little before hearing a knock at her door. Her eyes widened and she shoved both of Izaya's gifts under her pillow. "Who is it?" she called, barely hiding the irritation in her voice. "Your parents, darling," her father responded, and she bit her lip. He had an odd tone to his voice, the tone he had when he was going to say something that he'd put serious thought into. 'Not good…' she thought with a frown. She sighed quietly. "Come in…" she called, and her ornately dressed parents entered the room, crossing over to her bed (where she was still sitting) and sitting on the end of it. "Dear, there's something we need to talk about," her father said firmly, and she almost let out a groan. She just _knew _that was where this was going. "…What is it?"She asked carefully, and her mother continued. "We saw you interacting with the peasant after dinner. Our guards stopped him after you left, and he attacked them!"Her mother snorted. "The nerve of that commoner…"the woman muttered, and the princess looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap. He did _what_? She had to give it to Izaya, he had guts…and skills if he'd warded off _their _guards, who were the best in the country. "I liked him…"she muttered, flinching when her father gave a small growl. "From the look of things, you don't just _like _him," he said, and her blood ran cold. Was it really _that _obvious? "You know it is forbidden," her mother said sternly. "And yet you've gone and fallen in love with that flea! Unacceptable!" The girl didn't respond for some time, but suddenly muttered "I'm not feeling well. Can we continue this discussion tomorrow?" Her father frowned, but nodded. "Very well, good night, darling," her mother said quietly, and the two adults walked wordlessly to the door, shutting off the light and closing the door behind them.

Karima's fingers curled into fists. "Damn them!" she hissed to herself, pulling the cell phone and paper from their hiding spot. She quickly went to the messaging screen and entered in Izaya's number. _Good riddance, assholes! _She thought as her fingers flew across the small keyboard. She was putting a hell of a lot of emotion into this text, so she assumed it'd take a few separate messages to get the whole message across to him. She pushed the send button and dropped the phone onto her bed, walking to her jewelry box and pulling her money out of its drawer. She dropped it onto her bed and reached into her chocolate box, removing her switchblade and tossing it with her cash and phone. She changed from the dress to the jeans and t-shirt she'd hidden beneath her bed and grabbed the purse her father had brought back from Shibuya from her dresser and put most of her things into it, save for the phone and switchblade, which were in her pants pockets.

And she waited for her new friend's response.


	3. Escape?

Izaya frowned as he looked at his computer screen. No one was on Dollars Chat and he just couldn't think of anything else to do! The informant was beyond bored at this point. He stood and stretched his arms above his head, hearing a satisfying –POP- from his back, and walked to the kitchen. Before he could do anything, his phone vibrated from the counter. He picked it up curiously, and raised an eyebrow at the number.

287-9756.

He smirked, wondering what had the girl contacting him so soon, and opened the message. What he saw changed his smirk to a frown.

**Izaya, it's Karima. I made a decision a bit ago. I don't want castle life anymore! I want the thrills of the city! I want the adrenaline! I want the small apartments, crowded sidewalks, everything! I'm leaving all of this shit behind, and I need you to help me. I'm kind of stuck**

Izaya stopped. There was no more to read, so he figured she'd gone over the character limit and waited for another text. Sure enough, another text from the same number popped up seconds later.

**in my room, and my parents went so far as to post guards everywhere on my floor. X( I'm out of options here. I need you to take out the guards below my window so I can get out of this place. I know of a secret exit to get off of castle grounds, but it's in the garden, so I**

And yet another cut-off. She was really putting some thought into this. He chuckled, he would let her finish, but either way he knew he was going to help her. It would be no problem finding her window; she'd probably be out on her balcony waiting for him. His phone vibrated again and he continued reading.

**couldn't get to it either way unless I was outside. Also, I was wondering…do you know of any open apartments in Ikebukuro or Shinjuku? I need somewhere to stay, after all. I hope you can help…I've had it with royalty. And if my parents don't like it, they can kiss my ass! ~Karima**

Izaya chuckled as he read the last sentence. She was dead serious about this, no doubt, but she could still throw something fun into the mix. He respected her for that. He pulled on his trademark fur jacket and picked up his switchblade from the desk he had previously occupied, slipping it into his pocket. He picked up his phone and responded to the girl.

**TO: 287-9756**

**TIME: 10:24 p.m.**

**TEXT: I'll see you in a bit then, Kari-Chan! ~ ;)**

The girl sighed in relief as she saw her phone vibrate with a response to her plea. She pulled it out of her pocked and read the message.

**FROM: 387-2498**

**TIME: 10:24 p.m.**

**TEXT: I'll see you in a bit then, Kari-Chan! ~ ;)**

She smiled in gratitude, knowing full well that he couldn't see it, and slid the phone shut, sliding it back into her pocket. She shouldered the purse and walked calmly to her balcony doors, pushing one open and sitting on the stone bench overlooking Ikebukuro. "Ikebukuro, here I come," she said to herself, her grip tightening on the iron railing before her. "What was that, princess?" One of the guards below her asked, pulling her out of her mind and making her realize that she'd said that aloud. "Nothing," she responded, her eyes widening as she saw a shadow approaching them. 'Izaya,' she thought, smiling. The guards noticed the intruder, and readied their spears. "Halt! Who goes there?" One shouted, and the figure stopped, chuckling in a sinister way. "Oh, don't worry about _me_," Izaya's sweet voice said, making the girl shiver. 'I've never seen this side of him,' she thought. 'It's like he's making them both scared _and_ angry with his voice…'she thought, watching the guards glare daggers at him. "Answer my question, commoner!" the lead guard barked. Izaya looked up at them, his maroon eyes glowing from the light of her bedroom and making both her and the guards gasp. "He's a monster!" One guard said shakily, and he chuckled. "Now that isn't very nice!" he said, his voice making the guards visibly shiver. Izaya, however, was obviously enjoying this. She glanced down at her guards. 'How much longer will they last?' she thought in amusement. Finally the first guard spoke in a low voice. "Just what _are _you?" Izaya narrowed his eyes. "I won't say, but I will tell you this." He stepped forward and brought up his arm, suddenly jerking it back to his side, and a sound that the girl knew all too well was heard.

Izaya now had an open switchblade in his hand.

He raised the blade, pointing it dangerously at the guards. "I'm here for the girl," he said darkly, demonically even, and the guards raised their spears once more. Her heart was racing; he was so hot when he was being mysterious, especially when he was doing it for _her_. Izaya's other hand was still in his pocket, giving him a relaxed look. "You can't have the princess!" One of the guards shouted, and they all ran at the shadow without hesitation. The girl leaned forward even more in anticipation. Izaya's pocketed hand suddenly twitched, and one guard fell to the ground with a cry of pain, scarlet blood oozing from his throat. Her eyes widened. "Damn he's good," she muttered enviously. The 3 remaining guards stopped dead in their tracks. "What did you do to Haru?!" The lead guard shouted in rage, and she snorted. "Isn't it obvious? I gave him what he had coming," Izaya smirked, which the guards could see now due to their small distance, and they charged again.

Two of them didn't make it. Each had fallen with similar wounds that the first one had received. Their leader was the only one left.

He stopped mere feet from his enemy, and his eyes widened as he realized that his men were all gone, and that he was alone with the man who had killed them. Izaya chuckled and was suddenly behind the guard with his knife pressed against the man's throat. "You're all so pathetic," he muttered with another smirk. The man didn't respond, as he feared he would lose his head if he did. The knife was pressed against his flesh, not hard enough to make him bleed, but hard enough to make him feel pain. "Go run and tell the queen that you failed," he growled, removing the knife and shoving the guard towards the castle.

The man was gone in seconds.

Izaya glanced up at the princess' window when he heard the girl begin to clap. He smirked up at her and made his way over, closing his switchblade and pocketing it again. "Ready to go, my dear?" he asked, chuckling when she blushed bright red at his nickname for her. "Yeah," she said, picking up her purse from the balcony floor. She dropped it over the side, where Izaya caught it, and pulled on the black jacket she'd hidden with her current outfit. "Damn, how am I getting down from here?" she asked herself, and the man below her shrugged. "Jump," he said simply, and she raised an eyebrow at him. "You gonna catch me?" she asked curiously, and he smiled at her. Somewhat reassured, she climbed up onto the railing so that she was sitting on it with her back to her room. Before she could jump, there was a frantic knock at her bedroom door. "Karima! Are you in there?" her mother cried. "No!" the girl shouted, and, closing her eyes, she pushed herself forward and off the railing.

Just as her father threw the door open.

"KARIMA!" he shouted in alarm, sprinting to the balcony and looking down.

_His daughter was lying on her back on the concrete, eyes closed._

He ran from the room, making his way to the garden, and came to the area beneath her window. He stopped dead when his eyes fell on the spot his daughter had just been laying.

No one was there.


	4. Enter Shizuo

"That was a bit mean, don't you think?" The girl asked her companion uncertainly as she watched her father cry from the shadows. He chuckled quietly. "Don't worry, this is all part of my plan," he said, and she raised her eyebrow at him. "_Plan? _Giving my dad a heart attack is part of your plan?!" she asked in disbelief, and he nodded. "He'll find out soon, if he hasn't figured it out already," he said as the two walked out of the garden, having to interruptions due to the hysteric king below his daughter's window.

The guards were being drawn to the scene like flies to a light.

"What, you think he already knows you came for me?" she asked, confusion flooding her entire being. He laughed. "No, not exactly. You see, when he saw you lying on the ground, he thought you were dead, and came down to see if you could be saved. Needless to say, he was afraid he'd lost you due to the fall. However, when he arrived on the scene and found that you were gone, he was scared, shocked and relieved!" The two of them were now walking through a field towards Ikebukuro. She peered at the mysterious being beside her. "How so?" she asked quietly, still wondering how Izaya could know so much when he and her father had literally just met earlier that day. "He was scared that you were hurt, shocked that you were still alive, and relieved that he hadn't lost you." Izaya said, closing his eyes and bringing his hands behind his head, where he entwined his fingers as he strode through the tall grass with his face pointed toward the sky. "How do you know?" she asked, and he peered over at the girl, his maroon eyes shining from the moonlight as gazed into her ice blue ones. "I know this because I can read human emotions as easily as I can tell my right from left." He said, stopping. She did as well, and glanced back at him with a confused expression. He shoved his hands into his pockets again and leaned forward until his face was a mere inch from hers. "I know what you're thinking as well," he said quietly, smirking as she blushed bright red. "…What am I thinking then?" she asked, her eyes widening as he reached up with one hand and gently pushed her hair out of her face. "You're thinking that I'm gonna kiss you," he whispered, moving his hand down to her cheek. She eyed his hand in shock, and he smiled. "And maybe you're right."

Out of nowhere something slammed into Izaya full force, sending him flying a good twenty feet away. She gasped, spinning around and seeing a…bartender?..walking towards them. He had short, bleach blonde hair and was wearing blue tinted sunglasses.

At one in the morning.

"What the…" she muttered to herself, turning towards Izaya. He stood slowly, holding his shoulder as he sent the blonde a bone-chilling glare, his eyes seemingly glowing with annoyance.

If looks could kill, the guy would've exploded on the spot.

"I-zaa-yaa," the man growled, his voice fluctuating dangerously as he removed his shades. Izaya smirked defiantly at the man, even though it was obvious that he was in pain. "Shizu-Chan? What has you so far from Ikebukuro?" he asked casually, and the man nodded towards the castle. "Some guy who works as a guard up there owes Tom money," he said, shrugging. Izaya chuckled. "I saw the guy earlier!" he said, earning a curious look from 'Shizu-Chan'. "What, don't believe me?" he asked, and the blonde shook his head."Well what was his name?" The informant pressed, and the other man shrugged. "I think it was Haru Samira," he muttered, and suddenly Izaya burst into laughter. "What?" the man asked, narrowing his eyes at the hysteric man. "I already killed him!" He cried, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder to balance himself. The bartender shot the informant a glare. "When?!" he asked dangerously. "When I went to pick up this lovely lady," Izaya responded, gesturing to the girl beside him. She blushed as the bartender looked her over. "So, what, you gonna rape her?" he asked blankly, and she gasped. Izaya looked taken aback at his question. "Shizu-Chan, you think I'd do that?! I'm hurt!" he cried, putting a hand over his heart as though he'd been shot. "No I'm not, to answer your question. She's probably the only girl I can stand beside my sisters and Celty. And even then they're a pain as well, so I guess she really _is _the only girl I can stand!" He chuckled, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her a bit closer to him.

"Izaya…" she murmured, and he smirked as the bartender narrowed his eyes again. "Like I believe _you_," he growled, picking up a tractor angrily. Izaya narrowed his own eyes and drew his switchblade, giving her an idea. "Izaya, you know I have a knife, too," she said, and the informant chuckled. "Do you mind?" he asked, holding out his other hand. She shook her head, pulling her own knife from her pocket and handing it to him. "Not at all."

Izaya managed to fight the angry man off, who she learned was named Shizuo Heiwajima, and she set off with him once more towards Ikebukuro. He sighed suddenly about a mile away from the city, and she glanced over at him. "What?" she asked. He smirked. "I forgot to finish the rape debate with Shizu-Chan," he said, shrugging. She rolled her eyes. "Well unless you could've finished in under 10 words, I doubt we'd be here right now if we'd stuck around." He pouted. "Aww, but I only wanted to say _seven_!" He begged, and she sighed. "What were you going to say to him?" she asked curiously. He chuckled. Putting an arm around her again he said, "It's not rape if you like it." She turned red. "I-Izaya!" she cried, and he giggled. Ah, calm down, I was joking." She sighed in relief. "Good. Because if you were serious, I'd put you through a tree."


End file.
